Mexico launches anti-kidnap squad

Mexican authorities have launched an anti-kidnapping squad amid public anger over the abduction and killing of a prominent businessman's son.

The squad will consist of some 300 officers in five centres.

Correspondents say public anger broke out after the abduction and killing of 14-year-old Fernando Marti amid suspicion police were involved.

The federal government also wants an anti-abduction pact with the 32 state governments and business leaders.

Life in prison

The anti-kidnapping centres will be open 24 hours a day.

Luis Cardenas, of the federal police, told journalists: "Federal police are scaling up their capacities in the fight against kidnappings with an unprecedented effort."

The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Mexico City says the government is trying to respond to a widespread sense of public unease that the kidnappers and some elements of the country's police forces are out of control.

On the pact with state governments, businessmen and academics, Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino said: "We're proposing a pact, a national agreement that sets certain rules and commitments from each of the people involved."

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